Kansas City’s Manheim Park

As the Twentieth Century dawned, streetcar suburbs arose in Kansas City. One streetcar line ran down Troost Avenue.

One could hope onto that streetcar, leave the hustle bustle of the city behind and arrive at a streetcar suburb.

Those new streetcar suburbs which were being built were still located in Kansas City. Yet, those new streetcar suburbs did not espouse an urban feel. Manheim Park was one of the early streetcar suburbs.

To the north, Manheim Park touches 35th Street. To the west, Manheim Park touches Troost Avenue.

Troost Avenue…where one could hop onto a streetcar early in the Twentieth Century and be dropped off in Manheim Park. A new streetcar suburb.

Construction of new homes in Manheim Park took hold during the early years of the 1900’s. Drawing upon a general distaste for how new homes were then being built on what oftentimes were run-of-the-mill, “plain-jane vanilla” roads. Roads that ran straight. East to west. North to south. Homes which were considered to be too close to one another.

In Manheim Park, things would be different. In Manheim Park, your drive to one of those streetcar suburban homes would be a drive along a road with a unique contour.

The crooked roads…

To build new homes on any undeveloped land you need roads. In Manheim Park, new roads went in. Roads which did not necessarily run east to west. Roads which did not necessarily run north to south.

Those original Manheim Park roads were crooked. Creating a staple – all its own – for Manheim Park. Its crooked roads.